Portugal President set for re-election

PORTUGAL: Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva is set for a new term following Sunday's election but his limited powers to govern a country mired in a serious debt crisis may lead to record abstention rates.

As Lisbon puts into effect its third austerity plan in a year, voters worried by rising unemployment and poverty have shown apathy over the vote, with some describing it as "a walk in the park" for the incumbent.

"All of this doesn't interest anyone," said 38-year-old Carlos who runs a diner in Lisbon.

"People have other worries, and quite frankly, we see that the president is useless," quipped his wife Catarina, handing out job listings to customers.

In an opinion poll published Wednesday the conservative president was way ahead with 61.5 percent in approval ratings against 15 percent for his opponent, poet turned politician Manuel Alegre, who is backed by Prime Minister Jose Socrates' Socialist government.

"There is no doubt" that the 71-year-old economist, who was Portugal's prime minister from 1985-1995, will be re-elected in the first round Sunday, forecast Joao Marcelino, head of the daily Diario de Noticias. "The re-election is just a kind of promenade," he added.

The only surprise in this otherwise predictable election at the end of a tedious campaign will be the abstention rate, forecast to be at least 35 percent in a survey conducted over two days last week among 802 voters by Marktest.

In Lisbon, the electoral campaign has been virtually invisible, with no posters on walls or leaflets handed out.

The president has no executive authority except for the power to dissolve parliament.

All presidents to date have been elected in the first round except in 1986, the year Portugal entered the European Community.

"People know that it is not the president who governs. He is a very important figure but he does not solve economic problems," said political analyst Marina Costa Lobo.

LISBON, Friday, AFP